SOULS IN CHAINS

Bamboo And Serpents Lyrics

[Esoterical][Intro]
New York New York
New York New York

[Esoterical][Verse1]
Even the sunniest days can have a little rain
These words ring through my brain as I ride this train
Sliding swift through the underbelly of this city
Just listening and looking on
Thinking how many people have been in this exact same spot
With their thoughts gone
Just lost in the sounds of the tracks
Escaping just for a second any problem or regret they’ve ever had
We hit a bump and my mind snaps back
I look up to see a little boy with a crooked blue hat
Sitting calm with confusion in his eyes
Looking up to a broken mother trying not to cry
Right across from them
Two seats left from me
Sit’s a ghetto bred youth labeled in the color green
Looking like an urban militant in his 3x tee and jeans
He got off at the same spot as me
But he kept going
I stopped to watch a man sing so hard
It seemed like his words were about to bleed
With the memories he was verbally painting
As his guitar screamed along with him
So I dropped a five and went about my life
Hitting the streets like a rhythm without a beat
Looking up to the city above me
Watching buildings scraping the sky so high
I wonder if the heavens are keeping down the NY

[Chorus]
New York New York
These New York streets these New York streets
New York New York
Are guiding me guiding me
New York New York

[jD][Verse2]
White snow covers the cotton of my black gloves
Taking in the faces and the changes of the people walking past us
Look around
Homeless in shelters, brokers and sellers, drifters and dwellers, stock
market tellers
Mindscapes neglected
It’s like we swallow the truth but cant seem to digest it
So I push forward Maples hang over head
Across the park the skies are dark decipher words in my breath
I watch it all
The jakes in blue, rich men in suits, Pols and Jews, the 14th loop
Existent thoughts
Read the signs and decide to head north some blocks
Stuyvesant street lights
The projects on East River seaside
Peace signs graffiti murals, Tompkins Park the snow is knee high
I’ve reached the point were streets collide
Black beanie to the side a skull cap dressed
Amongst the New York sketch
I sit and stare in the snow upon the building steps

[Chorus]
New York New York
These New York streets these New York streets
New York New York
Are guiding me guiding me
New York New York

[Esoterical][Verse3]
I can feel the snow freezing the back of my head as I sit upon the steps
of this project
Watching time creep by
I let my mind slide brewing static lines
Until this guy who jus bought a dime asks me for a light
But doesn’t wait for a reply he just heads inside
So I forget about him, get up and start walking down the street
Staring up at these empty frozen trees
In this little city above Avenue B
Where if you look to your left
You’ll see a man getting jacked right before the Christmas weeks
Because honest men aren’t the only men with kids
And it’s easier to rob a man then to work for him
Now past Stuyvesant, I’m heading down to the last letter this alphabet
got
But I stop to watch a cop drop nine shots in a ragtop
Coming my way, hoping a stray don’t come ruin my day
I stay stuck praying for luck to ask death to wait
And he listens as I go about my business
Wondering what destination I’m feeling, where can I head now?
Walking some blocks and a bridge out
Five points stare down
As I hear cans clack with a tips shout

[Chorus]
New York New York
These New York streets these New York streets
New York New York
Are guiding me guiding me
New York New York

[jD][Verse4]
Black clouds over the hood I’m on the corner with the thugs
Silent foot steps under the moon as they assume I’m slanging drugs
Empty whiskey bottles in the gutters fiends collected
Under the tracks pregnant girl Camels smoke screen ingested
Shake my head but move on count my steps a little further
Jackson Ave 5 points pad walls sprayed up bamboo and serpents
Queens blocks subtracting street signs backwards from 40
Smoke moves from my burnt lips as the projects move towards me
Under the bridge sunsets buses spew ash in thee air
Climb up the steps and through the gates welcomed by passavive's
stares
Look to the stacks buildings icy snow fall with the brick swift
Y's on the river front 23rd and Queens bridge

[Chorus]
New York New York
These New York streets these New York streets
New York New York
Are guiding me guiding me
New York New York

[Esoterical/jD][Verse5]
In the middle of Queens bridge my minds gone sick blinded by street
lights
Coupled with a cold night
Brick buildings and a black sky
Hard to fathom and imagine dons of this hood use to pass by
I walk through this complex
Drop my head and get lost in past verses
Fall out of consciousness slip back fit my last words in
Stand still mother f**ker I'll empty my shit
Trying to think quick why you got to do this
Homie this the life we live, I got kids to feed and bills to pay
Man I'm sorry bout your troubles
But you think I got a dime to my name?
Quit talking quit your bullshit empty your damn pockets
Ill squeeze this trigger and body you motherf**ker